Rack for stem glasses

ABSTRACT

A rack for holding stem glasses of the type comprising a stem portion interconnecting a foot portion and a cup portion. The rack is elongated and defines first and second horizontally spaced-apart ends. The rack comprises elongated lower and upper rails both extending between the first and second rack ends, the upper rail being positioned vertically over the lower rail in the operative position of the rack. The rack also defines an elongated foot channel formed between the lower and upper rails and sized for accommodating the foot portion of the stem glass. An elongated insertion slot is also made between the lower and upper rails, the insertion slot being narrower than the foot channel. Furthermore, the rack also defines an elongated clearance positioned above the foot channel for allowing the foot portion of the stem glass to partially and temporarily enter therein when a glass is being inserted or removed from the rack. The foot portion of the stem glass may be inserted into and removed from the foot channel at any point along the elongated insertion slot, and the stem glass may be mounted in the rack in a substantially horizontal cantilevered position where the foot portion is located in the foot channel with an upper portion of the foot portion abutting on the upper rail and a lower portion of the foot portion abutting on the lower rail.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to storage devices for drinking glasses, and more particularly to a rack for storing stem glasses.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Goblets or stem glasses commonly comprise a cup held at one end of a stem, the stem in turn connected to the center of a discoid foot. In bars and restaurants in particular, it is desirable that stem glasses be stored in a convenient way without cluttering up the bar space, while remaining easily accessible to the barman. Stem glasses are therefore typically hung to a rack overhanging the bar, in a side by side relationship. Such stem glass racks are generally serially loadable in a last-in-first-out manner, and hold the glasses vertically and upside-down so that the opening in the cup is oriented downwardly. This downward orientation of the cup prevents dust to settle and accumulate inside the cup.

However, even though this upside down storing position of the glass prevents the accumulation of some settling dirt in the liquid-containing cavity of the cup from particles and gaseous fumes that are denser than air, some particles and gaseous fumes on the other hand such as cigarette smoke and fatty kitchen fumes that are carried by an upward air flow or that are less dense than air may flow upwardly into the cup and leave an undesirable and dirtying coating on the inner peripheral wall of the cup cavity.

Moreover, the glasses being generally loaded in a first-in-last-out order in these racks, glasses that were the first inserted in the rack are prone to remain unused for extended periods of time while the latterly inserted glasses are cyclically used, washed and reengaged in the rack. These unused glasses are thus prone to becoming dirty by the cumulative deposit of settling dust and other particles or fumes (cigarette smoke, fatty kitchen fumes, etc.) even without being used.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a rack for stem glasses of the type comprising a stem portion interconnecting a foot portion and a cup portion, said rack being elongated and defining first and second ends destined to be horizontally spaced-apart in an operative position of said rack, said rack comprising:

-   -   an elongated lower rail extending between said first and second         ends;     -   an elongated upper rail extending between said first and second         ends, said upper rail destined to be positioned substantially         vertically over said lower rail in said operative position of         said rack;     -   an elongated foot channel between said lower and upper rails and         extending between said first and second ends, said foot channel         sized for accommodating the foot portion of a stem glass;     -   an elongated insertion slot made between said lower and upper         rails and being narrower than said foot channel, said insertion         slot extending between said first and second ends; and     -   an elongated clearance positioned above said foot channel and         extending between said first and second ends, for allowing the         foot portion of the stem glass to partially and temporarily         enter said clearance when a glass is being inserted or removed         from said rack;         wherein the foot portion of the stem glass may be inserted into         and removed from said foot channel at any point along said         elongated insertion slot, and wherein the stem glass may be         mounted in said rack in a cantilevered position where the foot         portion is located in said foot channel with an upper portion of         the foot portion abutting on said upper rail and a lower portion         of the foot portion abutting on said lower rail.

In one embodiment, said elongated lower rail comprises a foot supporting groove for accommodating the lower portion of the stem glass foot portion.

In one embodiment, said upper rail comprises an upper rail wall having front and rear surfaces, said insertion clearance being located about said rear surface thereof, wherein said upper rail wall is for allowing the upper portion of the stem glass foot portion to abut against said rear surface thereof.

In one embodiment, said rack further comprises a shelf affixed to said front surface of said upper rail wall and projecting therefrom, said shelf destined to overhang the stem glasses held in said rack, said shelf acting as a deflector means for causing at least a portion of rising fumes to be deflected away from said rack and thus away from the glasses mounted therein, and also for preventing dust to settle on the stem glasses mounted in said rack and located under said shelf.

In one embodiment, said rack further comprises wall mounting means for mounting said rack to a wall, said rack also comprising spacer means for maintaining said upper rail plank spaced apart from the wall in order for said clearance to be defined between said upper rail plank and the wall.

In one embodiment, said rack further comprises a wall mounting bracket, said wall mounting bracket comprising said wall mounting means and said spacer means.

In one embodiment, said elongated upper and lower rails each define first and second lateral extremities, both said first extremities of said upper and lower rails fixedly interconnected by a first lateral bracket, both said second extremities of said upper and lower rails being fixedly interconnected by a second lateral bracket, said first and second lateral brackets thus fixedly interconnecting said upper and lower rails.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the annexed drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a rack for stem glasses according to the present invention, holding a number of stem glasses in a horizontal and cantilevered position, and also supporting miscellaneous items on its top shelf;

FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the rack of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3-5 are side cross-sections of the rack mounted on a wall, sequentially showing the insertion of a stem glass in the rack of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 1-5 show a stem glass rack 10 in its operative position, for holding a number of stem glasses G. Stem glasses G, as best shown in FIGS. 3-5, generally comprise a discoid foot portion F, merging at its center with one end of an elongated stem portion S, which in turn merges at its other end with a liquid-containing cup portion C.

Rack 10 is elongated and defines opposite first and second ends 10 a, 10 b that are horizontally spaced apart in an operative position of rack 10 where it is fixed to a wall as described herein after. Rack 10 comprises an elongated glass supporting portion 12 defining a longitudinal axis 13 extending between rack ends 10 a, 10 b. Glass supporting portion 12 has a substantially planar overall shape and is destined to lay in a substantially vertical plane. Glass supporting portion 12 defines an elongated front glass insertion slot 14, extending lengthwisely along glass supporting portion 12 between rack ends 10 a, 10 b, and defining a longitudinal axis extending therealong coinciding with longitudinal axis 13 of glass support portion 12. Rack 10 also has a flat shelf 50, affixed to glass supporting portion 12 and projecting perpendicularly thereto and from a front surface thereof, as further described below.

Glass supporting portion 12 comprises a lower rail 15 extending between rack ends 10 a, 10 b, including an elongated bottom rod 16 defining top and bottom surfaces 16 a, 16 brespectively and made of hardwood for example, bottom rod 16 being coupled to an L-shaped elongated backing bracket 18 made of metal for example. This L-shaped backing bracket 18 is formed of a first horizontal flat portion 18 a affixed to the flat bottom surface 16 b of rod 16, and of a second vertical flat portion 18 b integrally projecting upwardly from one edge of first portion 18 aand running alongside the rear surface of rod 16, as best shown in FIG. 3-5.

Furthermore, lower rail 15 comprises a crenel-shaped foot supporting groove 20. The inner peripheral wall of foot supporting groove 20 is formed by the vertical side wall 22 a and the horizontal bottom wall 22 b of a square-angled indentation 22 routed on rod upper surface 16 a, and by the vertical bracket portion 18 b. The inner peripheral wall of foot supporting groove 20, as described herein after, defines a lower abutment surface onto which the lower portion of the foot portion F will abut when glass G is held in rack 10.

Glass supporting portion 12 also comprises an upper rail 30 including an elongated, flat wall in the form of a plank 32 extending horizontally between rack ends 10 a, 10 b and made of hardwood for example. Upper rail plank 32 comprises a flat top surface 32 a, a rounded bottom surface 32 b, and flat front and rear surfaces 32 c, 32 d respectively. Upper rail 30 is linked to lower rail 15 by first and second metallic brackets 40, 42. Each one of brackets 40, 42 is affixed to the lateral extremities of lower and upper rails 15 and 30 respectively as best illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, brackets 40, 42 thus coinciding with rack ends 10 a, 10 b. Brackets 40, 42 thus connect lower and upper rails 15, 30 together such that the upper surface 16 a of rod 16 and the lower rounded surface 32 b of plank 32 are parallel and spaced apart from each other, in order for lower and upper rails 15 and 30 to be separated by elongated glass insertion slot 14. The width of glass insertion slot 14 is inferior to the diameter of the discoid foot portion F of the stem glasses G that rack 10 is intended to support. Glass insertion slot 14 is closed off at its lateral extremities by the lateral brackets 40, 42. Moreover, brackets 40, 42 connect lower and upper rails 15, 30 such that the rear surface 32 d of plank 32 is substantially coplanar with rod 20 albeit located frontwardly of groove 20.

As mentioned above, glass rack 10 also comprises a shelf 50, made of hardwood for example, affixed perpendicularly to plank 32 of upper rail 30 with screws 52 (only one screw 52 being shown in FIGS. 3-5). In addition to screws 52, the interconnection between shelf 50 and plank 32 is further achieved by an elongated square 54 affixed to and extending lengthwisely along the lower one of the comers formed between shelf 50 and upper rail plank 32, and by lateral brackets 40, 42, which as shown in FIG. 1 and 2, interconnect the coplanar lateral extremities of lower rail 15, upper rail 30 and shelf 50. Shelf 50 is located spacedly above slot 14 and is destined to overhang and substantially cover the stem glasses G held in rack 10. In addition to being capable of providing shelf storage space for miscellaneous items I as shown in FIGS. 1-2, shelf 50 also has the function of preventing downwardly moving dust to settle and accumulate on stem glasses held in rack 10, and of deflecting upwardly rising fumes and particles such as cigarette smoke away from the glasses held in rack 10 by forcing the moving air currents to circumvent shelf 50.

Rack 10 also comprises wall mounting means in the form of an elongated wall mounting bracket 58 suitably affixed to and running lengthwisely alongside the upper end portion of plank 32. More particularly, wall mounting bracket 58 is made of four integrally interconnected portions as best shown in FIGS. 3-5:

-   -   a vertical front portion 58 a bearing against the front surface         32 c of plank 32 near its top edge,     -   a horizontal top portion 58 b perpendicularly connected to front         portion 58 a and bearing partially against top surface 32 a of         plank 32, with its end opposite front portion 58 a extending         beyond the rear surface 32 d of plank 32;     -   a vertical wall-bearing rear portion 58 c, perpendicularly         connected to top portion 58 b, extending in a plane parallel to         plank 32 and spacedly from its rear surface 32 d, wall bearing         portion 58 c being coplanar with vertical portion 18 b of         backing bracket 18; and     -   a horizontal bottom portion 58 d perpendicularly connected to         rear portion 58 c at one end, and abutting at its end opposite         rear portion 58 c against plank rear surface 32 d.

As shown in FIG. 2, a number of wall mounting apertures 59 are made through the rear bracket portion 58 c, which are intended to be penetrated by screws or the like fasteners driven into a wall W for mounting the stem glass rack 10 on wall W as shown in FIGS. 3-5.

It is noted that when rack 10 is mounted on a wall W, wall bearing rear portion 58 b of wall mounting bracket 58 and vertical portion 18 b of backing bracket 18, which are coplanar, will abuts on wall W. Since the wall bearing rear portion 58 c of wall mounting bracket 58 is spaced away from the rear surface 32 d of plank 32, the rear surface 32 d of plank 32 will be located in spaced apart fashion relative to wall W. Wall mounting bracket 58 thus also acts as a spacer means for maintaining plank 32 spaced-apart from wall W. The space formed therebetween in turn forms an elongated vacant clearance extending between rack ends 10 a, 10 b, illustrated in dotted lines in the cross-sectional views of FIGS. 3-5 and labelled 60, about the rear side of upper rail 30. Clearance 60 is located above a virtual foot channel 17 (shown in exemplary fashion on FIG. 5) which is destined to be occupied by foot portion F of the stem glasses G which are loaded in rack 10. This clearance 60 will allow glass G to be loaded into glass insertion slot 14, as described herein after.

The mounting of a stem glass G in rack 10 is achieved by inserting the foot portion F into glass insertion slot 14, and then having the glass G rest in cantilevered position in rack 10 as shown in FIG. 5.

To insert foot portion F into glass insertion slot 14, a user must pivot stem glass G as indicted by the counter-clockwise arrow A₁ in FIG. 3. Indeed, discoid foot portion F being wider than glass insertion slot 14, it must be first be tilted into an inclined position in which it may be upwardly and rearwardly translated until the upper portion of foot portion F is brought inside slot 14 as indicated by arrow A₂. Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the user can pivot glass G into a clockwise direction as indicated by arrow A₃ so as to tilt it back into a horizontal position, all the while moving foot portion F upwardly as indicated by arrow A₄ in order for the bottom portion of foot portion F to clear the lower rail 15 so that it can be passed through glass insertion slot 14. This pivotal and upward displacement (arrow A₄) of stem glass G would not be possible had there be an obstacle occupying clearance 60.

Finally, as indicated by arrow A₅ in FIG. 5, glass G is moved vertically downwardly, such that the upper portion of foot portion F egresses out of clearance 60, and such that the bottom of foot portion F enters into foot supporting groove 20 of lower rail 15 and is supported therein by the bottom wall 22 b of indentation 22. Then, as the user releases the glass, the weight repartition of glass G will bias it into a pivotal displacement similar to arrow A₃, which pivotal displacement will be prevented by the simultaneous abutment of the bottom portion of foot portion F against the vertical portion 18 b of backing bracket 18 and of the top portion of the glass foot portion F against the rear surface 32 d of plank 32, so that glass G remains balanced in a cantilevered and horizontal position as shown in FIG. 5. In this cantilevered position, stem glass foot portion F occupies foot channel 17, which is located below clearance 60.

These steps can be accomplished in the reverse order in order to take a glass G out of rack 10.

An important feature of the present invention is the presence of a vacant clearance 60 about the rear face of upper abutment rail 30 above the foot channel 17, or in other words the absence of obstacles in the space located between the rear surface 32 d of plank 32 and wall W, appearing in dotted lines in FIG. 3-5. Indeed, the absence of obstacles behind plank 32, i.e. in clearance 60, allows the upper portion of foot portion F of glass G to be moved upwardly in this clearance as suggested by arrow A₄ of FIG. 4, which allows the lower portion of foot portion F to clear lower rail 15 as the glass is pivoted back to a horizontal position as suggested by arrow A₃, to permit the passage of foot portion 14 completely through insertion slot 14, i.e. therethrough from the front side of glass supporting portion 12 to the rear side thereof.

In some prior art racks for stem glasses, the stem glasses are inserted therein through the outermost open end of a channel in which the glasses' foot portion can be slidably engaged, and the glasses are then slid along this channel towards the innermost closed end thereof. To remove a glass from the rack, the glass must slide towards the open outermost end of the channel until its foot portion reaches it, and can then be dismounted from the rack. In these prior art racks, the glasses are thus sequentially stored and can thus only be disengaged therefrom in a last-in-first-out order. Dismounting a stem glass in particular from the rack is not possible without also dismounting all glasses that have been inserted in the support after it, if any. With these prior art serially loadable/unloadable racks, as mentioned in the “Background of the invention” section above, glasses that were the first inserted in the rack are prone to remain unused for extended periods of time while the latterly inserted glasses are cyclically used, washed and reengaged in the rack. These unused glasses are thus prone to becoming dirty by the deposit of settling dust and rising fumes (cigarette smoke, fatty kitchen fumes, etc.) even without being used.

In the present invention, a stem glass can be frontwardly inserted in the glass insertion slot 14 at any vacant location therealong, in a discrete rather than in a serial fashion. This independent loading/unloading of the glasses allows the barman to pick any glass from the rack and remove it independently therefrom without having to unload other glasses from the rack. This feature facilitates the task for a barman who for example stores glasses of different varieties in the same rack, and to easily independently dismount a glass of the desired variety from the rack without dismounting other glasses.

Moreover, when mounted in rack 10, glasses G are less prone to dirtying than if held vertically upside down in a conventional ceiling-hung rack. Indeed, the interior surface of a glass G is protected against upwardly rising fumes such as cigarette smoke and fatty kitchen fumes since glasses G are held horizontally, and the opening of the glasses' cup portion C does not lie in the path of these rising fumes as it does when the glasses are held vertically upside-down in prior art racks. Moreover, as mentioned above, shelf 50 is wide enough so as to extend over the whole length of the cantilevered glasses G, and thus prevents dust from settling on the outer surface of the glass. The frontwardly projecting shelf 50 also serves as a deflector means which tends to cause at least a proportion of the upwardly rising fumes to be deflected and flow around the rack 10 and thus around the glasses held therein instead of flowing directly onto the outer surface of the cantilevered glasses.

Alternative embodiments of the present invention could be envisioned without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, lower and upper rails 15, 30 could be movably mounted to brackets 40, 42 instead of being affixed thereto. They could therefore be movable relative to one another, and their relative position could be selectively varied to widen or narrow down glass insertion slot 14, in order for the rack of the present invention to adapt to stem glasses having foot portions F of different diameters. It is recalled that the glass insertion slot needs to be slightly narrower than the foot portion of the stem glass, and thus the width of the aperture will depend on the width of the foot portion of the stem glasses the rack is intended to support.

Or, alternately, brackets 40, 42 could be absent from the rack of the present invention, and the lower and upper rails could each be independently affixed to a wall by independent wall mounting means such as screws or the like fasteners. Since the lower and upper rails of the glass supporting portion of the rack can be affixed to the wall at the desired distance from each other, this embodiment also permits an adjustment of the width of the wall mounting aperture.

Also, in the embodiment shown in the drawings, the wall mounting bracket 58 is shown to act not only as wall mounting means for mounting rack 10 to wall W, but also as spacer means for keeping the rear surface of plank 32 spaced away from wall W. In an alternate embodiment, the rack's wall mounting means and spacer means could be independent and distinct structures.

Moreover, rack 10 could be hung from the ceiling instead of being affixed to a wall. It this case, means should be provided on the rack to stably connect the rack to the ceiling.

Also, although the upper rail 30 is shown in the drawings as being located perfectly vertically over lower rail 15, it is understood is that the upper rail only needs to register substantially vertically over the lower rail, i.e. their relative arrangement should be such that the rack can hold and maintain stem glasses in a cantilevered position. Thus, the upper and lower rails of the rack could be horizontally offset, and thus not be vertically aligned, as long as stem glasses can be held thereby in a cantilevered, non-vertical position. 

1. A rack for stem glasses of the type comprising a stem portion interconnecting a foot portion and a cup portion, said rack being elongated and defining first and second ends destined to be horizontally spaced-apart in an operative position of said rack, said rack comprising: an elongated lower rail extending between said first and second ends; an elongated upper rail extending between said first and second ends, said upper rail destined to be positioned substantially vertically over said lower rail in said operative position of said rack; an elongated foot channel between said lower and upper rails and extending between said first and second ends, said foot channel sized for accommodating the foot portion of a stem glass; an elongated insertion slot made between said lower and upper rails and being narrower than said foot channel, said insertion slot extending between said first and second ends; and an elongated clearance positioned above said foot channel and extending between said first and second ends, for allowing the foot portion of the stem glass to partially and temporarily enter said clearance when a glass is being inserted or removed from said rack; wherein the foot portion of the stem glass may be inserted into and removed from said foot channel at any point along said elongated insertion slot, and wherein the stem glass may be mounted in said rack in a cantilevered position where the foot portion is located in said foot channel with an upper portion of the foot portion abutting on said upper rail and a lower portion of the foot portion abutting on said lower rail.
 2. The rack according to claim 1, wherein said elongated lower rail comprises a foot supporting groove for accommodating the lower portion of the stem glass foot portion.
 3. The rack according to claim 1, wherein said upper rail comprises an upper rail wall having front and rear surfaces, said insertion clearance being located about said rear surface thereof, and wherein said upper rail wall is for allowing the upper portion of the stem glass foot portion to abut against said rear surface thereof.
 4. The rack according to claim 3, further comprising a shelf affixed to said front surface of said upper rail wall and projecting therefrom, said shelf destined to overhang the stem glasses held in said rack, said shelf acting as a deflector means for causing at least a portion of rising fumes to be deflected away from said rack and thus away from the glasses mounted therein, and also for preventing dust to settle on the stem glasses mounted in said rack and located under said shelf.
 5. The rack according to claim 1, further comprising wall mounting means for mounting said rack to a wall, said rack also comprising spacer means for maintaining said upper rail plank spaced apart from the wall in order for said clearance to be defined between said upper rail plank and the wall.
 6. The rack according to claim 5, further comprising a wall mounting bracket, said wall mounting bracket comprising said wall mounting means and said spacer means.
 7. The rack according to claim 1, wherein said elongated upper and lower rails each define first and second lateral extremities, both said first extremities of said upper and lower rails fixedly interconnected by a first lateral bracket, both said second extremities of said upper and lower rails being fixedly interconnected by a second lateral bracket, said first and second lateral brackets thus fixedly interconnecting said upper and lower rails. 